Entries tagged with low-key things to get you to write

The comm has this low-key things to get you to write tag, but it hasn't been used since the summer. The end of the year is full of formal fic exchanges like Yuletide, which may cause as much stress as glee for participants.

But there are also things like insmallpackages (which I enjoyed doing last year!) & fandom_stocking. & also, coughcough, I've just started eastasianfandomgiftbag along the same lines. These are all geared towards low-pressure participation -- not just for fic, but for any kind of fanworks -- & so might feel a little easier for people in the comm who are wanting to write but for whom a big commitment might not work right now!

Are there any others going on? Let me know & I will add them into this post. This time of year is busy for a lot of people; I know for me it's nice to feel like there is something small & creative I can do if I'm too stressed out to work on any of my WIPs or an official exchange fic!

Mentioned in comments:consci_fan_mo: the Concise Science Fiction and Fantasy Month

fic_promptly, DW's own fantastic comment fic comm, is having a contest week!

Perhaps dashing off some comment fic might give your brain the break from your WIP it needs? Or it might be a low-key way to bust through your writer's block, or experiment by writing in a new fandom.

If it sounds at all like fun, do check it out. There are tons of prompts -- & if you're not in the mood to play, you can go back & add prompts to old posts (a feature I like a lot about the comm & need to use more myself...).

New comm female_fest is open for prompting. The challenge is "to encourage more female-centric fic and art in all fandoms." Rules post & prompt post are both up. Prompts will be taken until Mid-June, & you can leave unlimited prompts, v. exciting!

There's a lot of 3W4DW fandom-related activity (& there will no doubt be more), but I thought a post to highlight specifically the fic writing events would be good! Especially since they seem rather low-pressure -- maybe suitable for taking a break from your WIP to recharge your brain, or for breaking writer's block?

I'll be starting a writing session in about an hour (4 PM GMT); the room will be WriteThisFanficSessions. There's some info in these posts about how to join, & what messaging clients will make this possible.

Feel free to comment here or ping me (my IM username is paperwarfic) if you need help. I'll also have Gmail chat up (same username) just in case anyone's using that.

fic_promptly is having their usual Lonely Prompt Challenge Weekend. If your brain is struggling to move forward w/your WIP, perhaps it might help clear your mind to dash off some comment fic? I don't do that as much as I'd like to (& the prompts I start writing versus the prompts I manage to finish & post is a rather sad ratio at the moment) but sometimes it does seem to help me!

New comm yuri_challenge is open for prompting. The challenge is "to encourage more f/f fic and art in anime/manga/manhua/manhwa and video game fandoms." Rules post & prompt post are both up. Prompts will be taken until 4 March, & you can leave up to 25, v. exciting!

The second round of chromaticvision, focused on fanworks starring characters of color, is also open for signups. More info here. Signups are open through February 26.

Both of these challenges have fairly low word count requirements--yuri_challenge's is 500 words, while chromaticvision's is 100--so possibly a nice, low-pressure way to keep yourself writing!

Lifehacker has an article on a cunning way to stay motivated through long projects that sounds useful for all us crazy longficcers.

Basically: when you start to get bored or demotivated, take a break and do something smaller. It seems ot me that fanfic is pretty much made for this approach, since it comes in 'short' and 'long' forms by default.

This week fic_promptly is having a contest. You can win DW points for filling lots of prompts! If you're in the mood for comment fic, do check it out.

(I've received 3 fills, which has made me v. happy. Two are by comm members doing the WIP challenge [snowynight & mystiri_1]: COINCIDENCE? You decide!)

& on a possibly silly note: do past/present WIP challenge participants use the AO3? Would anyone be interested in a WIP challenge collection, where we'd post (obviously, ha) the fics we've completed using the challenge? I fully admit I'm a dork & just like having a collection to stick a fic into, but it might be kind of nice anyway, like a communal trophy or something. Anyone interested? Or is it a ridiculous idea?

poetry_fiction sounds like a low-pressure challenge -- of the sort we like to know about around here (so if you know of more, please let us know!) -- which is starting soon. Signups are open through the 31st, after which you'll receive a stanza of poetry (this year's poet is Anne Sexton) as your fic prompt.

Posting happens in February but there's an amnesty period through March until the next poet is announced (which seems like it will be in the fall) -- so really, there's quite a long time to write if needed.

There's been some discussion in this comm before about low entry-barrier challenges or opportunities to write fic; sometimes it just feels less intimidating to dash off a brief comment fic & it can be a good way to get some writing in even when you're feeling blocked!

I've seen a couple of holiday fannish things that might be useful for this. One is insmallpackages, where people leave up to 5 wishes that anyone can grant. Wishes include prompts for ficlets & drabbles. It's too late to leave wishes, but perhaps some of the prompts might entice you to grant some?

Woohoo! I just spent my morning reading & writing for the Awesome Ladies Ficathon. I URGE you to browse the delicious account, AWESOMELADYFEST@DELICIOUS by fandom (on the right, you'll find a sidebar with a category, 'fandom', and a list of the fandoms represented) which contains all the prompts, filled or not. For those new to ficathons, they work like this: anybody can post a prompt as a new comment focusing on one or several female characters in any fandom and anybody can fill any prompt they like (you don't have to post any prompt to fill one and you don't have to write to post a prompt) - you fill a prompt by replying to it so basically it all takes place in the comments). Very low-pressure (I produced two fics, it's buried in the comments so it's not out in the open, yay!) so don't walk, run.

Does anyone know of current other low-pressure fests/challenges/ficathons/whatnot?